War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1750 The Borrowed Trainee Postman

Putting away the camera and the tricolor flag, the three men watched as Gerard's body was lifted up and walked to the rear, where it finally disappeared in the winter mist.

"I hope Estelle gets the news later."

Clemont sighed, turned around and walked briskly towards the front line.

Seeing Yu Yanlin looking at him, Wei Ran shook his head slightly, took a step forward and followed him.

On the journey from the rear to the front line, they also changed their roles from postmen to soldiers. Of course, compared with the organized companies around them, the three of them had much more freedom.

They found a shelter with familiarity, and each of them took a lunch box to get a steaming hot breakfast. Then they casually stood guard at the machine gun post assigned to them and began a slightly boring wait and stalemate.

"The enemy is not going to attack anymore?"

Next to the machine gun post, Yu Yanlin sat on an ammunition box and asked as he shoveled breakfast into his mouth with homemade chopsticks. Today's breakfast was still boiled potatoes, bread slices, and bean soup.

"Even if they don't attack, their goal has been achieved."

Wei Ran said, "The two sides are in a stalemate, so we must ensure that at least an equal number of troops are tied up here."

“So the other direction.”

"Who knows?"

Wei Ran shook his head before he finished speaking, without waiting for Clemont to start making coffee again. “No one knows where the other side will launch the attack from. Maybe the commander of the other side doesn’t know the answer to this question.”

"boom!"

He had just finished speaking when a shell came from the opposite side without any warning. The soldiers who had just "handed over their shifts" immediately put down everything at hand and hid in the trenches to prepare for the opposite side's artillery fire.

However, one minute, two minutes, three minutes passed, and the expected artillery fire never came.

Wei Ran poked his head out through the firing hole of the machine gun, brushed off the dirt on his body and stood up. That shot just now was just a scare.

"Harassing Shells"

Wei Ran sat back on the ammunition box and asked, "Where were we talking about just now?"

"Talked about."

"boom!"

Before Yu Yanlin could finish his words, another shell hit him, and the soldiers in the trench who were just about to stand up subconsciously squatted down again.

"They are desensitizing us to artillery fire"

Wei Ran frowned immediately. He had guessed the other party's intention. At the same time, he also realized that there seemed to be a cunning front-line commander on the opposite side.

who can that be?

Wei Ran subconsciously began to recall the records about this period of history, but found that there was no way to match the corresponding people on such detailed issues.

“This is nothing like what I thought war would be like.”

Clemont said as he handed two cups of coffee to Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin respectively, "Whatever they want to do, have a cup of coffee first."

"I'm starting to get used to the taste of this foreign medicine soup. It's quite fragrant." Yu Yanlin said as he finished the coffee in the cup.

"boom!"

Almost just when Wei Ran finished drinking the coffee in the cup, another shell came from the opposite side, hitting the middle of the position and creating a scary crater, raising a large amount of soil, and causing a series of screams.

“Our doctors are busy.”

Clermont drank the coffee in the cup and then sighed. Obviously, he was thinking of the body of Gerard whom he had just met not long ago.

"Do we need help?" Yu Yanlin subconsciously looked at Wei Ran.

"No need, our mission is to defend the position." Wei Ran said, and patted the Maxim machine gun next to him.

Hearing this, Yu Yanlin sat down against the wall of the trench again, returned the eggshell cup in his hand to Clemont, and asked, "Clemont, if my fiancée came here, what do you think she could do?"

"Your fiancée is coming here?" Clemont asked in surprise.

"But if," Yu Yanlin said, "I don't know if she can find this place."

“She could be a nurse.”

Clemont put the coffee pot, cups and other items into his bag and said, "As long as she joins the International Brigade, I think there will always be a job suitable for her. The Medical Aid Committee needs nurses, the post office needs typists, and the telegraph office needs telegraph operators. Every position is fighting against Fasuis, and the work of every position is meaningful."

At this point, Clemont had already taken out a few pieces of paper. "Louis, do you want her to come?"

"I"

Yu Yanlin thought for a moment and said, "I hope she comes, but I also hope she can leave here alive."

"Yeah. Who isn't?"

Clemont sighed, took out a pen and began to write a string of letters with longing on the letter paper, and said at the same time, "I don't know if I can go back alive, but I think I should leave a letter for my parents and Estelle while I am still alive.

That way, even if I die in battle, at least I won't have any regrets that I can't express in words."

Hearing this, Yu Yanlin was stunned for a moment, and after a moment he took out the notebook from his arms, took out a pen and wrote something silently.

"Aren't you going to write something down?" Clermont asked in French without looking up.

"I" Wei Ran shook his head, "I don't know who to write to."

"Then write it to yourself," Yu Yanlin suggested, "the self who will leave here alive."

"That's right," Clemont said, handing over two pieces of letter paper.

After a slight hesitation, Wei Ran took the two pieces of letter paper, then took off the lunch box hanging around his waist and placed it on his knees, then took out the pen using the cover of his pocket.

However, when he unscrewed the pen cap, he was at a loss. He didn't know what to write to his surviving self.

After a long time, he wrote: "Those who did not survive the anti-French war, perhaps those who have been forgotten, painted the most romantic dream for those who survived, and planted the most romantic seed for those who came after them."

Putting away the pen and folding the letter paper, Wei Ran stuffed the text message into the envelope, and then put it in his arms.

After looking at Clement and Yu Yanlin who were still writing furiously, Wei Ran leaned against the cold trench wall again, patiently waiting for the battle to begin.

"Postman Clement! Postman Victor! Postman Louis! Is there a postman named Clement, Victor or Louis here?!" Just as he was distracted, a voice shouted in French.

"Yes!" Wei Ran was the first to react. He stood up and responded loudly.

However, when he looked in the direction of the sound, he was stunned.

He didn't know the person who came, but he recognized the Soviet helmet on the other's head, the MP34 submachine gun on his shoulder, and the Swiss-made mountain division horsehair long bag in his hand. These were all the things of the female postman Viola!

Is it

Wei Ran suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and looked at Yu Yanlin and Clement who had also noticed this.

In a short while, the man carrying the bag had already run along the trench line.

"Hello"

The Spanish-looking man saluted, "I'm Sergi San Martín, Viola's helper."

"Hello"

The three of them raised their hands to return the greeting. Clemont couldn't help but glance at the other person's helmet. "Did Viola ask you to come?" "Yes."

Serge sighed, took off his helmet and said, "Last night, the barricade commanded by Viola was bombarded, and she...she died this morning."

"What did you say?" Yu Yanlin asked in surprise.

"The shell blew off one of her legs."

Sergey explained with regret, "We took her to the city, and a Canadian doctor treated her for most of the night, but she still didn't survive."

"Did she say anything?" Wei Ran asked.

"She said she wanted her to be buried with her husband."

Sergey said, "We have already done this. In addition, she asked me to deliver this backpack to you. She hopes to borrow a postman from you who can speak German and French. We don't have anyone who can speak multiple languages."

After a pause, Sergey continued, "Also, she has some belongings in her bag. She hopes you can send her belongings and the photo back home after the war is over."

"Who's going?" Clemont asked bluntly as he took the backpack.

"I'll go"

Yu Yanlin said as a matter of course, "You are already familiar with this place. I have to familiarize myself with the work everywhere, so I should go."

"Alright"

Clemont nodded, then looked at Wei Ran, "Victor, why don't you go with Louis? He may need your help more."

"No problem," Wei Ran agreed readily.

"You all have to live," Clemont said, "and we still have to drink coffee together."

As he spoke, he had already opened Viola's backpack and his own backpack.

In addition to a smallest oil lamp and a German kettle filled with kerosene, this huge backpack also contained a glass bottle of coffee powder that was given to her yesterday but was now empty. The empty bottle also contained two envelopes and two rings.

After a brief hesitation, Clemont put the glass bottle back into his bag, then took out a can of beef from his bag and put it into the bag that once belonged to Viola. "Who will carry it?"

"I"

"Let me do it"

Wei Ran took the backpack and threw it on his shoulder. "Let's go now. You take the submachine gun."

"Okay," Yu Yanlin responded and picked up the submachine gun leaning against the wall.

"Or take a group photo for us first."

Wei Ran said as he took off the camera hanging around his neck, adjusted it, and handed it to the man named Sergey.

"I'm waiting to have coffee with you," Clemont said as he stood side by side with Wei Ran.

"And Chinese tea," Yu Yanlin added.

"And pasta. It would be best if it was made by your mother. It would be best if we could sit on chairs at the table instead of in trenches or ruins." Wei Ran followed up with an overly detailed addition.

"There will be coffee and Chinese tea, as well as pasta made by my mom and a decent table and chairs," Clement said. "All three of us will be there."

"certainly"

Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin responded in unison, and Sergey also pressed the shutter, freezing the smiles on the three of them forever on the film.

Wei Ran took the camera handed back by Serge and hung it around his neck again. He picked up the Spanish box gun he picked up yesterday, and together with Yu Yanlin, followed Serge and left the position.

"Sergi, are you Spanish?" Wei Ran asked as he got on his bike.

"That's right"

Serge replied, "I'm from Sébère in the Pyrenees, right next to France, so I speak French."

"How was the battle situation in your area yesterday?" Yu Yanlin, who was also riding a bicycle, asked in French.

"The rebels have been attacking us with artillery"

Sergey gritted his teeth and said, "Those shells seemed to have eyes. Not a single one landed in the rich neighborhoods in the city. I suspect those rich people have colluded with the rebels."

"Are there heavy casualties?" Yu Yanlin asked.

"The direct casualties were not too great, but many people were injured by the collapsed houses," said Sergei. "Now many citizens are participating in the rescue work."

"So we are very short of manpower now?" Yu Yanlin asked.

“There is a great shortage, especially of translators.”

Sergey said, “We had two other postmen who spoke several languages, one was a Soviet and the other was an American.

But they were assigned to do translation yesterday, otherwise Viola wouldn't have asked me to come to you for help."

"What language are the letters here mainly in?" Wei Ran asked.

"Mostly French and German, with some Spanish and a small amount of Russian and English letters," Sergey said. "That's basically it, but I can only read Spanish and French."

"Do you speak English?" Wei Ran asked Yu Yanlin.

“Some pidgin English”

Yu Yanlin smiled innocently and replied, "I have been studying abroad for these years, and I have also learned some things on my own when I have free time. Although I cannot speak it, I do know the meanings of many English words. I originally planned to save money to go to the United States to broaden my horizons."

"There will be a chance, you will definitely have a chance." Wei Ran said, and at the same time he pedaled a few times to make the bicycle go faster.

The three of them crossed the city and returned to Carabanchel. Sergi took them to the post office, received a package of letters, and immediately rushed to the front line.

It was still the same community and the same streets, but compared to yesterday, most of the surrounding buildings had been hit by artillery shells, so much so that when they looked around, they couldn't find a single intact window.

Before Sergey could take them back to the postman's post, the roar of an airplane engine was heard in the sky!

"Hide now!"

Sergey reacted very quickly and shouted, then rode his bike directly into the wreckage of a building. He then anxiously called out to Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin to hurry over.

Almost at the moment when the two of them rode in and jumped out of the bike as fast as they could and hid in the corner with the mailbag, several German planes roared in and began to fire indiscriminately with their machine guns.

In the areas where these planes flew over, people on the buildings fought back with machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, and even pistols and black powder guns. Even Sergei subconsciously raised the submachine gun that originally belonged to Viola.

However, before he could release the safety and fire, the gun was suppressed by Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin with their hands one after another.

"This gun can't hit it, at least a rifle is needed."

Before Yu Yanlin finished speaking, a machine gun on the roof of a building not far away covered a low-flying enemy plane and successfully shot it down, causing it to emit black smoke.

Amid the cheers coming from all around, the firepower of the counterattack suddenly increased a lot, and the enemy planes also quickly increased their altitude because their companions overturned.

"There!"

At this moment, Serge pointed to a nearby street tree and shouted amid the gunfire, "Viola and her husband Bruno are buried next to that leafless street tree!"

"Da da da!"

Before Wei Ran or Yu Yanlin could say anything, another enemy plane began to dive and strafe, and the dense bullets left a series of bullet holes on the trail just one meter away.

This is the last update of this year. I wish you all a monthly income of 10 million in the new year.